While reading this latest section, I had a few minor (not deserving of a slap) questions on Beauvoir, her practices, and her beliefs.
1.) I have been assuming that the use of the gender specificity, which predominates this work, has been, to some degree, and artifact of the translation. It has become apparent, though, that she does sometimes use the pronoun to speak of, as would be expected of such a work and its topic, the male sex generally. There are also sentences that would seem to hint that the use of 'men' in that particular instance is intended to refer to all of humanity. Now, should I be reading the pronouns and noun very specifically, that is, that she is using 'he' and 'his' and 'men' only when referring to men? Or, is there some alternative way of reading Beauvoir that will afford me the luxury of knowing when she is speaking of men and when of people in general? This is not a criticism; I find, though, the answer to this is essential for understanding.
2.) Beauvoir, in the first chapter of section three, mentions the 'genesis myth'. I am left wondering what her religious views are. Does she believe in god? If so, does she identify with a particular religion? If so, which one? I know she is a dominant figure of existentialism, and despite some charges to the contrary, I do not believe that entails an ontological view of god. This one is less essential for understanding but a curiosity nonetheless.
